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I've said this several times before in this thread but I'm going to say it again. In the photo below you see a shock on the left. We keep referrring to as a strut but it's not. Look it up on RockAuto and you will see they list it as a shock. It has an eye mount on the bottom that allows it to pivot in the lower control arm on an Allante. A shocks sole purpose is to control the up and down motion of the wheel. The fact that it can pivot on the mounting bolt eliminates any side load so a smaller rod can be used. The STRUT on the right is clamped tightly in the knuckle. The knuckle pivots on the one (1) bolt that connects it to the lower control arm. The strut is what maintains the knuckle at the proper angle (camber). The knuckle trying to pivot in the lower control arm by the weight of the car is what puts a side load on the strut rod. A strut controls the up and down movement of the wheel as well as maintaining the correct camber of the knuckle and the bearing and wheel bolted to it. The side load is why the strut needs a larger diameter rod than the shock. I'm not saying the smaller rod of the shock won't be adequate when used as a strut. I'm just trying to explain the reason the shock has a smaller rod than the strut.

My New Year resolution is to complete a full/updated list of my Reatta spare parts inventory currently in my cellar. Diane even said that she'd help me!! Our clip boards are at the ready. What is your resolution(s)?

Just to add to what I said above... The Allantes that used the shock had an upper control arm to control the camber of the knuckle.

Dave is right about the diameter of the rod on the Reatta strut vs the Allante one. I know that was mentioned several pages back, something like 25mm vs 20mm, but it really stands out when laid side by side. It may not matter, but I would think a substantially larger diameter would provide a larger bearing surface where it comes through the upper portion of the reservoir. That, coupled with the larger rod, would seem to indicate it is designed to carry a greater side load? Not trying to be Debbie Downer, just an observation. I could be all wet as I would think it would be similar to the coilover conversions, which must be smaller diameter out of necessity. I hope the experiment is still going well but this seems to have died??